Loading apparatus



July 25, 1961 F. w. WALSH LOADING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 16, 1958 H OHH INVENTOR.

FRANCIS W. WALSH July 25, 1961 F. w. WALSH LOADING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 16, 1958 N MUHIL I y 1961 F. w. WALSH 2,993,318

LOADING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 16, 1958 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG... 3

July 25, 1961 F. w. WALSH LOADING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 16, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 16, 1958 TIC 2,993,318 LQADING APPARATUS Francis W. Walsh, Susquehanna County, Pa, assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 16, 1958, Ser. No. 780,692 Claims. (Cl. 53-247) This invention relates generally to a card stacker and carton loader and more particularly to an apparatus for receiving a stack of cards, transporting and automatically loading the stack of cards into an open carton.

Record cards such as are used to control accounting machines and the like are utilized in great numbers in data processing and handling operations. These cards are packaged in cartons for shipment to the users thereof. Previously, the operation of loading a carton with a stack of record cards was a manual operation accomplished by gripping the top and bottom of a short stack of cards and transporting the same to an open carton. When a large number of cards, e.g., 2,000, were to be packed in a carton, it was necessary to manually load the carton with several short stacks totaling the required number of cards, as the large stacks of cards are diffioult to handle manually. Manual loading, therefore, has not been very efficient. Accordingly, it is the principal object of this invention to improve the carton loading operation by providing a mechanism for automatically loading a carton with a single stack of articles, such as record cards, containing the total number of such articles which are to be packaged in the carton.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an proved loading and transfer mechanism operable in such relation to a carton-presenting mechanism that a stack of articles such as record cards may be automatically transported to an open carton and then instantly deposited therein as an incident to movement of the stack transporting mechanism back to its original card-receiving position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which disclose, by way of example, the principles of this invention and the best mode which has been contemplated of applying these principles.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan View illustrating the stack transporting and carton loading device of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation view taken generally along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the carton loader trip mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 illustrating the path of movement of the card stack transporting apparatus;

FIG. 5 is an elevation View, partly in section, illustrating the stack-tilting and carton loading operation accom plished by the apparatus of the object invention.

In general, the invention includes a card-stacking apparatus wherein a plurality of cards or similar articles are stacked vertically and a carton-supporting apparatus wherein an open carton is supported at a slight angle to the vertical. The carton-supporting apparatus may be in the nature of a rotary turret so that a carton may be presented to carton-loading position while an empty carton is being loaded into the supporting apparatus and a full carton is being removed therefrom. The novel features of this invention include a transport mechanism for supporting the vertical stack of cards and transporting them such that the lower card of the stack is presented to the bottom of the open carton, in combination with ,7 2,993,318 Patented July 25, 1961 ice 2 a stack-holding device which is adapted to hold the stack in the open carton while the stack supporting means is being withdrawn therefrom, thus automatically tilting the stack into the carton. The operation of the transport means, stack-holding and loading mechanisms are synchronized with each other and with the movement of the rotatable carton-supporting turret mechanism. The transport mechanism moves through an arcuate path which is of such configuration that there will be no interference between the transported stack and the walls of the carton.

Referring to the drawings, in FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown a rotatable turret 10 having a plurality of inclined carton-supporting members 12 carried thereby. These carton-supporting members include cars 14 for supporting an end wall of an open carton C together with a pair of back supports 16 for supporting the bottom of the open carton tilted at a slight angle from a vertical plane. Thus, the carton C, when it is positioned to receive the cards, will be tilted at a slight angle to the vertical. Each carton support 12 has a pair of back legs 18 having inturned flanges 20 which are secured to the rotatable turret 10. A plurality of the carton-supporting members 12 are positioned circumferentially around the edge of the turret 10 The rotatable turret 10 is adapted to be driven in a step-wise manner to intermittently present successive carton-supporting members 12 at a carton loading position L, FIG. 1. The mechanism for accomplishing this step by-step movement includes a pawl 22 pivotally connected by pin 24 to an oscillatable support plate 26. Support plate 26 is adapted to be oscillated back and forth about the axis of the rotatable turret by means of an actuating lever 28 pivot-ally attached thereto by connecting pin 30. (The drive for the lever 28 will be described hereinafter.) A ratchet 32 has a plurality of teeth 33 therein corresponding to the positions of the carton-supporting members 12. The ratchet 32 is rigidly secured to the turret 10, and the whole turret assembly is rotatably supported on a stationary central support 34. A suitable detent mechanism 35 cooperating with notches in the periphery of the turret 1t} helps to position the turret accurately each time it is advanced. Central support 34 also includes a collar 36 for supporting the oscillatable plate 26.

It is assumed herein that the cards are delivered from some type of card cutting device (not shown) to a stacker 37, FIG. 1, which includes a vertically movable card elevator 38, FIGS. 1 and 2, guided and supported by vertical rods 40 and 4-2. The elevator 38 is a flat platform adapted to receive and support the entire stack of cards which is to be loaded in the carton C. The cards in the stack S (indicated by the phantom outline in FIG. 2) are deposited from above onto the elevator 38, and as the stack grows in size, the elevator 38 is lowered accordingly so that the uppermost end of the stack S remains at a substantially constant level while the elevator is descending. The means for imparting vertical movement to the elevator 38, being conventional, is not illustrated herein.

Normally positioned adjacent the elevator 38 there is a card support assembly 44, FIGS. 1 and 2, separate from and movable horizontally relative to the stacker 37, and this support assembly 44 includes a pair of upright L-shaped card guides 46 and 48 which are adapted to guide the corner edges of the cards being lowered by the elevator 38. A pair of card support cars 50 and 52 are integral with the card guides 46 and 48, respectively, such that when the elevator 38 is lowered below the level of support cars 50 and 52, the cards carried by the elevator then will be supported by these ears 50 and 52. The card guides 46 and 48 are rigidly secured to a base plate 54, and this base plate in turn is pivotally attached at 56 to an oscillatable arm 58. The other end of arm 58 is stationarily pivoted at 60 to a machine base 62, FIG. 2. A drive arm 64 is freely pivoted at 66 to the front edge of the-base plate 54,-and the-other end of arm 64 is pivoted at 68 to the machine base. A connecting rod 70 (operated by means described hereinafter) is pivotally connected by yoke 72 to the drive rod 64 for driving the same and causing the card-supporting assembly 44 to move back and forth between its card-receiving and carddelivery positions, as will now be explained.

The card'support assembly 44 is adapted to move from its card-receiving position adjacent the elevator 38, as shown in full lines in FIG. 1, to a card-delivery or cartonloading position as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1. This movement is accomplished through a driving arrangement which includes a drive motor or other rotary source of power 74 and a drive belt 76 which is trained around the rotary power source 74 and the driving elements of clutches 78 and 80. The solenoid 82 includes a spring biased armature 83 which is pivotally connected to a clutch detent 84. This detent is adapted to contact a clutch pin 86 for arresting the driven element of the clutch 78. A clutch arm 88 is rigidly connected to clutch shaft 90 to rotate therewith when the clutch 78 is rotating. The aforementioned connecting rod 70 is pivotally attached at 92 to one end of the clutch plate 88. Energization of the solenoid 82 acts against the spring biased armature thereof to release the clutch 78 for rotation, allowing the clutch plate 88 to reciprocate the connecting rod 70 and thereby oscillate the drive arm 64 to move the card support member 44 from the articlereceiving position to the carton-loading position. As the drive arm 64 pulls the front edgeof the base plate 54, the support arm 58 will guide the rear edge of the base plate 54 such that the pivotal connections 56 and 66 of these members to the support 54 will move in the paths shown in phantom lines in FIGS. 1 and 4. Thus, the support member 44 will move in a guided path from the articlereceiving position to the carton-loading position such that the stack of cardsv S carried thereby will clear the side walls of the open carton C as shown in FIG. 4.

As the stack of cards S is presented'to the carton C, the movement of the support assembly 44 places the card support ears 50 and 52 inside the carton just above the lowermost end wall of the carton, as shown in FIG. 5. After the cards have been positioned such that the bottom card of the stack S is within the carton C and the card stack S is still vertical, it then is necessary to remove the cards from the support cars 50 and 52 and tilt the vertical stack of cards into the inclined carton C. This is accomplished by a holding and loading assembly 94, shown schematically in FIG.,3, which includes a pair of parallel side arms 96 connected by a holding cross bar 98. The parallel side arms 96 are also connected by an actuating cross rod 100. An actuating cam 102 is rigidly secured to the base plate 54 of the card support assembly 44. The holding and loading assembly 94 is pivotally supported on rod 104 such that when the cam 1102 contacts the actuating rod 104 on movement of the card support assembly 44 to the card-loading position L (FIG. 1), the loader assembly 94 will pivot upwardly causing the holding cross bar 98 to engage the rear side of the stack of cards at the bottom thereof as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5.

After the cam 102 pivots the holding and loading assembly 94 upward, the assembly is locked in this position by means of a spring loaded latch bar 106 which cooperates with notches 108 in the side arms 96 as shown in FIG. 3. A spring 110 normally biases the latch 106 upwardly. Thus, when the notch 108 comes into registry with the position of latch bar 106, the spring 110 causes the latch to lodge therein, holding the assembly 94 in the elevated, phantom-line position thereof shown in FIG. 2. The now elevated loading and holding assembly 94 serves momentarily to hold the Vertical card stack S in the full-line position thereof shown in FIG. 5 as the support assembly 44 starts its return to the cardreceiving position under the action of the driving clutch 78. As the supporting assembly 44 withdraws from its full-line position toward its phantom-line position, FIG. 5, the supporting ears 50 and 52 slide relative to the bottom card of the stack S, gradually removing the bottom support for the stack and causing the entire stack to tilt into the open carton C, moving from the full-line position of the stack S into the inclined phantom-line position thereof shown in P16. 5.

The card-holding and loading assembly 94 remains latched until released by an unlatching mechanism. This unlatching mechanism includes a pin 112, FIG. 1, located on an end of the clutch plate 88, which pin is adapted to contact a pivotally mounted cam 114 and rotate this cam counterclockwise about its pivot 116. This move ment of cam 114 causes a latch arm 118 to move in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3, causingthe latch plate 120 to pivot about its mounting 122 and allow the unlatching finger 124, which projects through a slot 126 in angle support 127 into a hole 128 in the latch bar 106, to move the bar 106 downward against the bias of spring 110, thus allowing the holding assembly 94 to fall to its original position by the force of gravity. Cam 114, FIG. 1, is spring loaded and returns to its normal position after pin 112 clears it during the rotation of the clutch plate 88.

The pin 112 of the clutch plate 88, upon continuing its revolution, also 'actuates the drive for the turret 10. Thus, pin 112 strikes the end of a cam 130, FIG. 1, and pivots this cam clockwise about its pivot point 132. The rotation of cam 130* clockwise releases a clutch pin 134 of clutch 80, allowing this clutch to accomplish one revolution thereby permitting a drive arm 136 secured to the clutch shaft to drive the connecting drive rod 28 to which it is pivoted. In the manner explained hereinabove, the actuation of rod 28 causes the turret 10 to advance, moving the loaded carton away'from loading posi-' tion L and presenting an empty carton to the loading position L. A spring bias will return the cam 130 to its normal position after the pin 29 passes the edge thereof, so that the clutch 80 is allowed to perform only one revolution.

The operation of the device will now be described. The stack S of record cards or like articles is deposited upon the elevator 38, which lowers in synchronism with the feeding of cards until the stack rests on the support cars 50 and 52 of the. movable card support assembly 44. Lowering movement of the elevator 38 then ceases, and the feeding of cards is interrupted until the next stacking operation is ready to commence. At this time the solenoid 82 is energized, withdrawing detent 84 and allowing the clutch 78 to start rotating for one rotation. This causes the connecting rod 70 to actuate the drive arm 64 for moving the card support assembly 44 and the stack of cards supported thereby until the cards are positioned with the bottom card of the stack in the lower end of the tiltingly supported carton C as shown in full lines, FIG. 5. The card support assembly 44, carrying the cam 102, will cause the holding assembly 94 to pivot upwardly into restraining engagement with the stack of cards, and after being so pivoted it will be locked in this position. Further rotation of clutch 78 will initiate movement of the support assembly 44 back to its card-receiving position and subsequently cause pin 112 to contact unlatching cam 114 to release the latching bar 106 by means of pivoted latch plate 120. As the supporting ears 50 and 52 slide from beneath the retained stack of cards, gradually removing the bottom support for the stack, the stack S will tilt into the open carton as shown in phantom lines, FIG. 5. Additional movement of the clutch plate 88, FIG. 1, causes the pin 112 to engage cam 130, releasing the clutch pin 134 and allowing clutch 80 to rotate, thereby causing the connecting rod 28 to oscillate the pawl support plate 26 and allow pawl 22 to engage another tooth 34 in ratchet 32 for moving the turret to the next carton-presenting position. Thus, the cards presented to the carton are automatically tilted therein, and the loaded carton then is moved to a position where it can be removed from the turret. As each loaded carton is removed, it may be replaced by an empty carton which eventually will move into the loading position for receiving a stack of cards. While a stack of cards is being transferred into a carton, a new stack of cards will be starting to accumulate in the stacker 37, where it is suitably retained in a noninterfering position until the support assembly 44 has returned to its starting point and is ready to receive the new stack.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for loading a vertical stack of flat articles such as record cards into an open-sided carton, said apparatus comprising; a rotatable turret, a plurality of carton supports mounted on said turret, said carton supports adapted to support an open-sided carton such that the open side thereof is tilted at a slight angle from vertical, means for driving said turret in a step-by-step manner such that such carton supports are successively positioned at a carton loading position, a card supporting assembly adapted to receive and vertically support a stack of cards, means for moving said card supporting assembly from a card receiving position to and from a position adjacent said carton loading station, the position adjacent the carton loading station being such that the vertical stack of cards carried by said carton supporting assembly will be positioned at the bottom end of the tilted open-sided carton, a holding assembly operable by said card support assembly upon movement thereof to the carton loading position to engage the bottom and rear side of said vertical stack of cards carried by said card supporting assembly, means for locking said holding assembly in the holding position when the support assembly is moved away from the loading position, and means for releasing the locking means for the holding assembly whereby, the vertical stack of cards received by the card supporting assembly and moved to the opensided carton will be tilted therein when the supporting assembly is moved back to the card receiving position and the stack is held by the holding assembly, the means releasing the locking means of the holding assembly, means driving the turret, and means moving the card supporting assembly being synchronized for operation at predetermined times.

2. An apparatus for loading a stack of flat articles such as cards into an open-sided carton carried by a rotating turret, such apparatus including means for supporting an open carton, the combination comprising means for supporting the bottom of a stack of articles spaced from said open carton and an improved transfer and loading apparatus comprising; transfer means operable to move said article stack support means and the articles carried thereby to a position in said carton,1oading means including a pivotally mounted cam operable arm adapted to be placed beneath and behind the stack of articles to contact the back side of the stack at the bottom thereof while the stack is occupying a position adjacent the open side of the carton, said arm thereby holding the stack of articles in the carton while the support means moves away from the open carton whereby the stack of articles will remain in the carton, and means for synchronizing the operation of the transfer means with the operation of the loading means.

3. An apparatus for loading a stack of flat articles such as cards into an open-sided carton carried by a rotating turret, said apparatus being of the type including means for tiltingly supporting an open carton thereby preventing displacement of articles from said carton due to centrifugal forces during movement of said carton on the turret from a loading position, means for supporting the bottom of the vertical stack of articles, the improvement in a loading and transfer apparatus that comprises; means operable to move said vertical stack of articles to a position with the supported bottom of said stack in said inclined open carton, and a cam operated arm movable to hold the side of the vertical stack while the support means is withdrawn allowing the unsupported stack to tilt into its final inclined position within the carton.

4. An apparatus for loading a stack of flat articles such as cards into an open-sided carton carried by a rotating turret, said apparatus comprising; means for supporting an open-sided carton in such a position that the plane of the open side is tilted at an angle from vertical thereby preventing displacement of articles from said carton due to centrifugal forces during movement of said carton on the turret from a loading position, a movable support for receiving and supporting the bottom of a vertical stack of articles to be loaded in said carton, a transfer mechanism connected to said movable support for moving said support from its article-receiving position to place the bottom of the vertical stack of articles carried thereby in the open-sided tilted carton, a loader operating in synchronism with said transfer mechanism, said loader including an arm movable to contact a side of the stack of articles when so positioned, said arm holding said stack while said movable support is withdrawn, said arm allowing the unsupported stack to tilt to its final inclined position within the carton.

5. An apparatus for loading a stack of flat articles such as cards into an open-sided carton carried by a rotating turret, said apparatus comprising; means for supporting an open-sided carton such that said carton is slightly tilted from an upright position with said open side facing slightly upwardly thereby preventing displacement of articles from said carton due to centrifugal forces during movement of said carton on the turret from the loading position, a receiving means for receiving the stack of articles to be loaded in said carton and supporting the bottom of said stack of articles, said receiving means being movable between a stack receiving position and a carton loading position, a transfer mechanism operatively connected to said receiving means to move said receiving means and present the stack of articles carried thereby to the open side of said carton, and a loader synchronized for operation with said transfer mechanism including a cam operated arm actuated during movement of said receiving means to the carton loading position to contact a side of said stack of articles opposite said open carton whereby the vertical stack of articles will be tilted into the open carton with the movement of said movable receiving means by said transfer mechanism away from its loading position.

Bruckman May 6, 1919 Madden Feb. 26, 1957 

